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Sunday, July 17, 2016

SUNDAY REVIEW / CRIME NOIR’S FLAWED DETECTIVE

Editor’s note: Anyone who finishes reading E.C. Bentley’s
“Trent’s Last Case” without skipping pages deserves high honors.That statement, however, is not meant to
discourage reading one of the earliest whodunits of the 20th
century.

As perhaps can be expected from a 1913 detective novel, the
language and pace of plot is akin to Sherlock Holmes with one notable
exception.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
Holmes is the perfect detective.Bentley’s Philip Trent is flawed, over wordy and blames the wrong character(s)
in the course of his two investigations of the same case.But this can be forgiven as Bentley’s hero is
a journalist first and a detective second.

E.C. Bentley, a charcoal sketch byHugh Godwin Riviere, 1915

Also, the first part of “Trent’s Last Case” is wading barefoot
through a bog and only picks up toward the end.The clues et al fall into place and what deserves suspension of
disbelief is the hero ends up marrying the woman he early on mistakenly accuses
of adultery and accessory to murder.Aside from that it has a happy ending.

In 1952, Trent’s Last Case was made into a film, which was
directed by Herbert Wilcox and starred Michael Wilding, Margaret Lockwood and
Orson Welles.It can be found on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gectf3WcixQ

The following “brief” synopsis of the film “Trent’s Last Case”
is only a few words short of the original novel (we tease).It was written before spoiler alerts notices
became in vogue.

Convenient pose for 1952 British movie still for "Trent's Last Case" showing Michael Wilding (left) as Philip Trent; Margaret Lockwood as Margaret (nee Mabel) Manderson and Orson Welles as American Tycoon Sigbee Manderson.In the novel, this pose would not have been possible as Sigbee was dead before our hero Trent arrives hat in hand to solve the crime.

GUEST BLOG—Synopsis by Turner Classic Movies--In England, Chicago industrialist Sigsbee Manderson is found
in his Hampshire estate garden, shot in the head. While news of the conniving
financier's death creates havoc on the international stock market, it appears
that Inspector Murch of Scotland Yard has a murder case to solve.

At the inquest, Manderson's wife Margaret (nee
Mabel in the book of the same title by E.C. Bentley, 1913) testifies that the
dead man had recently seemed depressed. Also testifying to Manderson's moody
behavior is his private secretary, John Marlowe, who says that late on the evening
of his death, Manderson wanted to be dropped off at the ninth hole of a nearby
golf course, then had Marlowe travel out of town to meet a man who failed to
show up.

During the proceedings, many troubling
details are brought out, including how the butler Martin had seen Manderson in
his robe at 10:30 p.m. talking on the phone, but his body was fully clothed
when found. Despite an indiscreet employee's insinuations that Marlowe and
Margaret were having an affair, the inquest jury, knowing that Manderson's
prints were on the gun that shot him at close range, concludes that his death
was a suicide.

However, the testimonies seem incomplete to
Philip Trent, a well-known amateur detective and artist who is following the
story for a national newspaper, and his editor permits him to continue
investigating. By intruding into the Manderson household, Trent manages to
interview those closest to the dead man and senses that Margaret and Marlowe
are withholding information.

While checking out the golf course, Trent
encounters an old newspaper crony, retired art critic and Margaret's uncle
Burton Cupples, who was out for a walk at 10:15 p.m. on the night of
Manderson's death and saw him at the ninth hole. After laying out all the
facts, Trent concludes that Martin saw Manderson alive after the time of his
supposed death. When Trent's investigation becomes too disturbing to Margaret,
she sends Cupples to ask Trent to desist.

Certain that Manderson's death was not
suicide, Trent writes his dispatch, naming Marlowe as the murderer, but asks
Margaret to decide whether to send it to his editor. Trent, now attracted to
Margaret, waits for her decision for six weeks in seclusion at his home,
painting her portrait while wondering if she is an accomplice to murder.

At a Covent Garden musical performance,
Trent approaches her, and grateful that he suppressed the story, she tells him
what she knows: A week before he died, Manderson's business obligations
prevented him from attending a concert, so he asked Marlowe to accompany her.
Upon returning home, Marlowe, who Margaret discovered was in love with her,
forgot himself and kissed her.

Although he regained his composure
immediately, Margaret realized that Manderson saw them and is convinced that is
the reason he killed himself. However, having heard the story, Trent feels even
more certain that Marlowe murdered Manderson, and with her permission, Trent
and Cupples meet Marlowe at the estate.

John Marlowe's dash from the murder scene to Southhampton

Trent tells Marlowe and Cupples his theory
that Manderson was murdered at the golf course and moved to the garden.
Marlowe, after admitting his love for Margaret, relates the following story:
After dinner on the night of his death, Manderson calls him and Margaret to the
library to torment them with insinuations of betrayal.

Marlowe's car in 1952 film version being driven back to the scene of the crime

Then, Manderson orders Marlowe to travel to
Paris immediately, using an assumed name, to deliver an envelope and insists
that he pack his gun. However, before Marlowe leaves, Manderson asks to be
driven to the golf course, where he takes the gun and gets out at the ninth
hole. Marlowe drives away, but troubled by Manderson's crazed and victorious
look, stops to examine the contents of the envelope. Seeing that it contains
diamonds and a thousand pounds, Manderson guesses that he is being framed for
robbery.

The sound of a fired gun prompts Marlowe to
return to the ninth hole, where he finds Manderson dead. Because he was the
last to see Manderson alive, he fears he will be suspected of murder, so
working quickly, he moves the body to the garden.

Then, Marlowe sneaks into Manderson's
bedroom, dons his robe, and calls for the man's ritual nightcap. When Martin
delivers it, Marlowe, an amateur actor skilled in impersonations, keeps his
back turned and pretends to be Manderson talking on the telephone, causing
Martin to believe that he is Manderson.

When Marlowe concludes his story, Trent is
satisfied that it is the truth, and Trent and Cupples later relate it to the
relieved Margaret. However, to the surprise of Trent and Margaret, Cupples also
has a confession. On the golf course that night, Cupples says, he tried to stop
Manderson from killing himself, but accidentally shot Manderson in the struggle
to get the gun away.

As he had publicly quarreled with Manderson
earlier that day, Cupples feared he would be suspected of murder, so decided to
remain quiet, unless someone was accused. As Manderson's intention was to
commit suicide, Trent sees no reason to reopen the case. With Cupples'
blessing, Trent and Margaret decide to marry.